Public hearings set tonight for redistricting, tall structure ordinance

Sunday

Mar 3, 2013 at 12:01 AMMar 3, 2013 at 4:55 PM

The Craven County Board of Commissioners will have two Monday evening public hearings — one on a redistricting plan for commissioner districts and the other on a tall structures ordinance.

Sue Book, Sun Journal Staff

The Craven County Board of Commissioners will have two Monday evening public hearings — one on a redistricting plan for commissioner districts and the other on a tall structures ordinance.

Both the proposed redistricting maps and the proposed tall structures ordinance can be viewed on the Craven County website at cravencounty.com/boards/public/hearings.cfm.

The commissioner districts are based on 2010 Census numbers and the plan was drafted by the board with a consultant and redistricting attorney at meetings and workshops over much of the past year.

The tall structures ordinance was crafted with Holland Planning Consultants during the past several months in an effort to be proactive about assorted new communication and power technologies and to mitigate tall structure conflicts with military, civilian and commercial aircraft operations.

As written, the ordinance would apply to unincorporated areas of the county that are not in municipal extraterritorial jurisdictions and would limit wind energy and communication structures to areas that minimize their visual impact on the surrounding areas and are at least 500 feet from an existing residential structure. Depending on the structure and use, lot size, setback and the 100 feet to 500 feet maximum height vary.

In the ordinance only recently completed and never specifically discussed by commissioners, tall structures would require planning board review and commissioners’ approval.

County residents have had longer to consider the proposed county redistricting plan. Scott Dacey, Craven County GOP vice-chairman and chairman of Craven County Board of Commissioners said he thinks the districts fairly address “the inequity that has been lingering for probably two decades in the size of districts to preserve one man, one vote.”

Dacey said he was proud of the process the county was able to use in making the proposed new district maps and “thought it gave each member an opportunity to have meaningful input in the way the districts were designed,” resulting in cleaner district lines that will be helpful to voters.

Craven County Democratic Party Chairman Rachel Parnell, however, said, “In reviewing maps of the proposed districts for Craven County, it is not clear to me if they have honored the intent of fair elections. Two districts (1 and 2) have been redrawn to stack two potential Democratic candidates in the same district.”

They are former Craven County commissioners Jason Jones of Cove City and Perry Morris of Vanceboro.

Parnell said, “I am concerned that the re-districting plan meets the criteria set by the United States Justice Department in the creation of Voter’s Rights Districts for fair elections and representation. Craven County has two Voter’s Rights County Commission Districts, 3 and 5.”

Only Democratic Commissioners Theron McCabe and Johnnie Sampson voted against the draft of the plan now on the table and McCabe, who serves District 5, is attending the National Association of Boards of County Commissioners and will not be at Monday’s meeting.

But he said before leaving that he is not happy with the way his district is drawn.

Neither is adjoining District 6 Commissioner Lee K. Allen, a Republican, although he did not formally oppose it.

The effort to equalize resident numbers to reflect one-man, one-vote, cost both some constituent neighborhoods where they felt they could count on support and added areas in which they will be newcomers.

Parnell said, “I urge my fellow Democrats to attend the hearing scheduled for Monday night to view the maps and learn more about the re-districting plan and decide how it impacts their rights as voters.”

Justice Department pre-clearance is needed for Craven and 39 other North Carolina counties before the plan can be implemented and commissioner’s made it clear that while that appears to comply, public comment will be heard and considered before approving the districts and sending them on for Justice Department approval.

The hearings and regular session of Craven County Board of Commissioners is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday on the second floor of Craven County administration building at the corner of Broad and Craven streets and is open to the public.

Sue Book can be reached at 252-635-5665 or sue.book@newbernsj.com. Follow her on Twitter@SueJBook.

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